2003 Protege5 recall problem

Has anyone else had a problem with the intake maifold shutter valve emission recall?

I have a ticking noise coming from my engine & back in Dec when I got the recall notice I thought "nice! mazda's fix, not mine". I took my car in & they ran the test-Only when I picked it up they said that my car did not need the recall. At the time I didn't think much of it.

Recently I took my car in to a trusted mechanic(non mazda dealership) to inspect my ticking engine. My diagnosis was the noise was coming from the maifold shutter valves!! So I called Mazda & their advice was to take it another dealership if it was to be covered under the recall.

The second dealership looked at my car for 10 minutes & came back saying the noise was probably a lifter problem not the recall.

I feel like I'm being screwed. I don't understand how the first dealership said the test on the recall would take a minimum of 4 hours & the second took 10 min?

what is going on here?
 
A four hour job is more than what it takes to pull the mainifold off an physically inspect it and the ten minute job is done by listening with a stethoscope to see where the noise is coming from. You can buy a stethoscope from most auto parts and check it out yourself for a piece of mind.
 
The dealers are not known for being proactive regarding this matter even with a recall. They don't want to spend the time to save you more time & themselves more money by being proactive. They would rather you blow up the motor while driving highway speed so they can just replace the whole motor rather than taking your manifold off & fixing the loose screws on the vics butterflies. I am basing this off all the talk here from other forum members' experiences. What is happening is the screws off of 1 set of butterfy valves in the intake come loose then get sucked into the intake close the spark plug gap giving cel for misfire & go out of the exhaust valve eventually or get smashed flat by the piston. There have been head damage, valve damage or complete motor replacements from this. The ticking/rattling is the precursor to the screws actually coming out. The butterfly valves themselves just fall down into the bottom of the intake manifold-too big & heavy to get sucked into the cylinders. I took mine off & did my own recall repair to skip all that crap & know it was handled correctly before bad things happened. Keep trying until you find one that will deal with it correctly unless you plan on doing it yourself.
 
I did the VTCS butterfly removal and checked my VICS screws and they were good. I pulled the manifold off then took the two halves apart removed butterflies port and polish with a die grinder and re-assembled in 6 hours. For the VICS screws I am pretty sure you can just remove the top half of the intake manifold which makes the job much easier than trying to maneuver the bottom half with the egr attached getting in the way. Back out the screw add some Loctite re-assemble and done. I can bet this would only take 2 hours tops.
 
The FS engines are known for being loud and ticky and generally just sounding like crap. It isn't anything to worry about, just annoying.

If you aren't in the vin range for manifold replacement, don't expect them to do anything until something actually breaks.
 
thanks for all the info

I'm taking it back to the original dealership that ran the recall on Monday. Hopefully they can do something. I'll post the results.

If not, I think my only option is to have it fixed somewhere else & report the dealership to the better business bureau. It would cost more to get a lawyer than it would to just pay to have it fixed.....its the principle that really bothers me in all this.
 
Did you go to the link I posted? Is your VIN within the recall? The link has the recall notice, with the VIN range.

If it is out of range, thereis a DIT for taking them out posted here somewhere.
 
Yes my VIN in on the list. The problem is not whether my car is eligible the problem is that the recall is first an inspection & then the dealer decides whether to replace the parts. I've had the inspection-but nothing has been replaced.

I've had an independent mechanic tell me that my parts should have been replaced by the recall as well.
 
It is eligible if it on the list. Period. They must replace it, and they are just being idiots. Print out the recall, take it in, and have them tell you why a known defective part is not going to be replaced. I would call corporate and file a complaint right now. You are being messed with.

what is the dealer name and location?
 
Traceyb560...bring that letter in to the dealer (make sure you make a copy of the letter in case it gets "lost"). If they give you problems, remember to log everything down. Get full names w/ their title (position), times, diagnostic information or what ever they give you. Tell them to explain to you why they are coming to their conclusion. Ask for the service manager if nothing is done, repeat process. If you still have a problem, try to see the person who sold you the car if they are still there. Sometimes they can make things fly. If nothing is still done, you can ask for the owner of the lot/business, repeat process. Next step is to complain to the corporation w/ the evidence that you have now obtained, repeat process. If that does not work, then it may be an attorney for you, again repeat process. You said your car's vin was on that recall list, so they have to fix the problem even if it does not appear (according to Mazda Service Dept.) to be a problem yet. Even if you have modifications, I believe they still have to honor the recalled problem because left untreated, you can possibly kill your engine. (Even if you switch your modifications back to stock around the engine area, they can often tell that you did something to the car...if they are smart enough). You want to gather your information, in writing, first before going back. Have all your questions or concerns written down and don't be afraid to ask questions even if you sound stupid. Just be prepared to raise hell. Make sure you gather all your facts before raising hell, though. I hope that you do not have to go through anymore run-around crap nor do you have to go beyond a manager this time. You want to show them to stop screwing around with customers. Like someone else mentioned, many dealerships will try to do anything to get out of fixing your problem because this is totally free to you but Mazda has to suck up the cost in parts & labor. The less they do, the more money they have. FYI, the mechanics still get paid the same rate of pay even if it's a recall or warranty repair. Show them who is boss! Good luck and I hope this works out for you.
 
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